let's dance!
by dreamythedark
Summary: "...bathed in the gentle glow of the moon, the fabled hero and his destined archrival..." "Are you /narrating/ this?" Inigo just needs a little help, that's all. And Owain would never abandon a friend in need!


**i forgot ffnet had genres  
ugh  
just...ignore those...**

 **/time to copy ao3 author notes**

 **this is future past...?**  
 **but before everything went full zombie apocalypse**  
 **so I guess it could be any bad future**  
 **anyway, it's set in the future, not in the usual awakening timeline**  
 **...not that it matters much**

* * *

Every step feels like a struggle.

Inigo spins awkwardly, cutting his dance short. He's short of breath even though he's barely done anything, his legs taut with tension. There's sweat dripping from his hair onto his face, but he doesn't dare look up. He can face their disappointment later.

"That was...great!" _Ha._ He can tell when Owain's being insincere—does he really think Inigo can't by now? All it does is make his cheeks burn in shame; was he so terrible that Owain had to lie for his sake?

"Great for a funeral, sure," Severa says bluntly.

"Severa!" Owain protests. _Why_ , Inigo wonders. _She's not wrong._

Actually, she is; funerals don't deserve to have him clumsily tripping everywhere. He never should've let Owain talk him into dancing for someone, filled him up with ideas of how he could be as good as his mother and have a dance so powerful and passionate it revived armies.

No. He could never match up to her. Severa and Owain are arguing in earnest now, so Inigo wonders if he can find a way to slip past them without drawing attention. Perhaps if he...

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Severa snaps. "You're not leaving until you answer me."

 _Answer...?_ It's no use arguing with her anyway. "You have a question?"

"Yeah—what the hell was that? Are you trying to motivate people or make them cry?"

"I'm," Inigo swallows, "trying." Trying to do what, he's not certain.

"Uh-huh. With that kind of dance, you may as well give up."

"I-I—"

"Wait!" Owain cuts in. "A, a solution, I have stumbled upon! And now, I shall impart my knowledge to my beloved companions!"

"Solution to what." Severa says flatly. "Incompetence?"

Owain shakes his head. "Inigo, my fleet-footed friend, your hurdle is your timidity, correct? You fear the critical gaze of a disillusioned audience."

Inigo nods without really thinking, immediately wishing he could take it back. Even though it's obvious, admitting it...at least Owain hasn't figured out all of it.

"Then the path we must follow is clear. To conquer your fear, you must accept the audience as part of your performance!" Owain declares with a flourish.

Inigo gapes. Usually, his Owain-to-normal translator is capable of getting the gist of what's being said. But this time, he has no clue.

Seeing Inigo's confusion, Owain clarifies, "Dance with me."

"W-wha—"

" _Ahahahaha!_ " Severa's laugh cuts sharp through the atmosphere. "I thought we were supposed to be _helping_ him?" Before Owain can say anything in retaliation, she waves him off. "I've got better things to do than watch you two blunder around. See ya." She kicks off the tree she was leaning against, and just leaves without a word.

An awkward silence hangs in the air while Inigo mulls over Owain's sudden offer. "Why?" he has to ask.

"To banish the dark—"

"Normally, please."

Owain shrugs. "I just figured you'd be more comfortable if you could focus on someone, instead of everyone." He shrugs again awkwardly, a blush creeping up his neck. "Or something like that."

 _Anything to stop thinking of Mother_ , he thinks, and immediately feels guilty. It's not her fault she was so amazing and he's just...himself.

He must have shaken his head while thinking that, because Owain looks positively dejected. "Yeah, it was a stupid idea, anyway..."

"No, no, wait!" He reaches out his hand, for Owain to take. "Why not try?"

"I'm the one who came up with the idea," Owain mutters, taking the offered hand. "You're going to have to lead, you know."

"Right..." Inigo fights down his shyness that threatens to take over. It's just Owain, who knows next to nothing about dance. He can't exactly judge him for leading badly. "Just follow my lead."

He starts slowly, simple steps. It doesn't fit Owain's personality at all, but he'd rather not have his feet stepped on, so this is his safest bet. Owain at least has some sense of rhythm; he could probably get decent at dancing if he bothered. Owain as a dancer, though...that's not happening anytime soon.

"...bathed in the gentle glow of the moon, the fabled hero and his destined archrival..."

"Are you _narrating_ this?"

"...their dance, like and unlike the familiar clash of blades, is—"

Okay, that's _it_. Inigo pulls Owain closer, and then dips him without warning. That should be enough to make him _shut up_ for once, right?

He smirks, victorious. Owain's face is frozen into a look pure terror, he's clutching onto Inigo's shirt for dear life, and...

He's way too close.

So close Inigo can count Owain's individual eyelashes, hear his heartbeat racing, feel the warmth of his slightly shaky breath on his own lips.

So close, that if he leaned just a little forward...

"P-put me down!" Owain flails suddenly, catching Inigo off guard. He drops Owain in shock, and since Owain _will not let go_ , Inigo falls on top of him with a shriek.

" _Owain!_ "

"Hey, it's your fault for doing...whatever you did!"

"Have you never seen someone _dance_ before? We were fine before you started hitting me!"

"I did not—and that was _not_ supposed to happen. No way. Also, get off me. You're heavy." To make his point, Owain pushes against him ineffectively.

All of Inigo's bluster disappears when he realizes the position they're in. He jumps away like he's been hit with an Elthunder, dusting himself off. And to think, only a few moments ago, they were about to...

Nope. Nothing happened. Nothing at all.

"You're not hurt, right?" Owain actually sounds a little concerned, which makes Inigo realize he's been sitting on the ground for longer than he should, completely silent.

"Y-yeah. I landed on you, after all..." His ears feel hot. Inigo nervously tugs at his earring—can Owain see how much he's blushing? It's nighttime, but with the full moon out, the entire area is illuminated in pale blue. (Come to think of it, Owain had said something about that, hadn't he?)

"And not even an apology!" Owain shushes Inigo before he can actually apologize. "Kidding. But it worked?"

It takes Inigo a moment to realize what he's talking about. It was true that dancing with Owain had made him stop constantly worrying about if he measured up to his mother, but it wasn't like he had gotten any actual practice in, either. He settles for a shrug.

Somehow, Owain understands. "Well, I'll leave you to it." He plops down on the ground, sitting with his back to a tree.

"..."

"..."

"...Are you leaving?"

"Nope!"

"I'm not practicing with you watching!" Inigo blurts out.

"Why not?" Owain yawns, brushing away his bangs from his forehead, completely relaxed. "You danced with me, so what's the problem."

"If you can even call that dancing—it's just not the same!" Inigo wrings his hands, frustrated. Owain had already seen him fail completely once, so was a night of practice alone too much to ask?

"Inigo." Owain closes his eyes, contemplating something. "You..." He stands up, walking over to him.

Inigo raises his hands in preparation. For what, he's not sure—Owain's expression is unreadable. Frustration? Anger? No, not quite. Disappointment...?

He flinches involuntarily when Owain reaches out for him, but his eyes fly open in surprise when instead of whatever he had expected, Owain takes his hand in his own. "It's just me," he murmurs, voice soft. "Do you trust me?"

" _Yes_ ," Inigo answers breathlessly. _Does he even know what he's doing...?_ His heart is beating so fast, but at the same time, he feels perfectly calm.

Owain smiles, completely open and honest. "Then trust yourself. You're an amazing dancer. I _know_ it. Everyone knows it."

Inigo doesn't know what to think. But if Owain says it, it can't be wrong. "A-alright."

"Good." He goes back to his spot against the tree, leaving Inigo's mind reeling. _What just happened?_ Something had, that was for sure. But...he can think about it later. Right now, all he needs is to focus on his dancing.

(His hand still feels warm. In his mind, he can hear Owain shout _My sword hand twitches!_ which makes him want to smile and sigh simultaneously.)

Inigo takes a deep breath. Dancing is natural. A way to express himself through movements alone—it can bring a man to tears, or encourage him to fight another battle. Inigo knows this—after all, his mother had...

But he's not his mother.

And that's...

That's alright.

He has his own friends who need him, his own battles to fight.

In the corner of his eye, he spots Owain giving him a thumbs-up. _And I've got that idiot, too._

* * *

Somehow, some of his very secret, _solo_ dance practices have turned into dance-practice-with-Owain-watching. Surprisingly, he isn't too obnoxious; at least, when Inigo is actually dancing, Owain keeps his mouth shut. (Mostly.)

After, though... "From this, I can divine the future—soon, your Dance of Mystical Blades will reach its ultimate form, and the entire world will be enraptured!"

"Don't be ridiculous..." Inigo blushes, because under all of Owain's theatrics is sincere praise. How is he supposed to handle all that...?

"He's not wrong."

Inigo quickly turns to the source of the voice. "S-Severa? You—"

"Yeah, I saw it all."

"I'm sorry—"

"For what? That was good." She sighs. "Everyone knows you're good at dancing," she begins, an unintentional echo of Owain's words. "You're kinda shit at keeping secrets, just saying."

" _Everyone_?" _How horrifying!_

"Mm-hm. See, if you look like you're about to cry when you're dancing, it just makes everyone sad. But now you're not, so...it's better," she finishes awkwardly, averting her eyes in embarrassment.

Like Inigo isn't already dying of embarrassment himself. First, the revelation that apparently everyone knows ( _everyone!_ ) and then, an actual compliment from Severa? He would ask her if she was feeling alright if he wasn't so tongue-tied himself.

Owain grins. "Told you my plan would work!"

"Only because you're both _idiots_."

"Idiots that made it _work_."

"I give up." She throws her hands up in exasperation. "You do your thing, I'll leave you to it."

Owain is still smiling as she leaves. "You're looking a little odd there, friend," Inigo manages, finding his voice again.

"Heh. Of course, Owain Dark's dark plots would never fail!" he exclaims, striking a pose with his hand over his face. "Truly, he possesses the mind to match that of a masterful tactician—uh. Never mind that."

"Tell me, does such a... _gifted_ individual have any luck with the ladies?" This Owain, Inigo can deal with.

"Why, do you seek my counsel? Ah, but even the mightiest heroes cannot perform miracles."

"...I'm going to bed." Nevermind. He can't deal with any Owain, ever.

"True, the night is late." Owain catches up to him quickly, grabbing Inigo's hand for no reason. Except to make him blush again, it seems. "Lead the way, friend!"

* * *

 **hey look it's my first fic of 2016**  
 **and also my first fe fic ever**  
 **yay**

 **writing owain is sometimes fun**  
 **and sometimes i want to strangle him**  
 **i hope i did him justice...justice cabal...what...**

 **i like my tsunderes 99% tsun (read: asuka) so severa's probably too harsh? idk...**  
 **...i also started writing this before i was aware of gerome and inigo's harvest scramble convo so i tried to retcon it in the end**

 **(the inspiration for this came off the hidden truths dlc, where owain's like "i always hoped you'd be open about [your dancing] one day!" which meant owain knew about it before and inigo trusted him enough to show him...i am already in so deep)**

 **i'm probably going to add another chapter (which hopefully gets them actually together)**  
 **but it can be considered complete, so...yeah**

 **when will i ever write something over 2k words/cries**  
 **or learn how to write summaries**  
 **...that's...actually a problem...**

 **...**

 **so i forgot to post this here for like a week**  
 **go me**


End file.
